"Chuck Versus the Wedding Planner" is the 21st episode of the fourth season of the American

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

Chuck Chuck is a masculine given name or a nickname for Charles or Charlie. It may refer to: People Arts and entertainment * Chuck Alaimo, American saxophonist, leader of the Chuck Alaimo Quartet * Chuck Barris (1929–2017), American TV producer * C ...

'', and the 75th overall episode of the series. The episode was written by Rafe Judkins and Lauren LeFranc and directed by Anton Cropper. It originally aired on April 18, 2011. In the episode,

Chuck Bartowski Charles Irving Bartowski is the title character of the American spy show ''Chuck'' on NBC. He is portrayed by Zachary Levi. UGO.com named him one of the best TV nerds. Character profile At the outset of the show, Chuck Bartowski is presented a ...

(

Zachary Levi Zachary Levi Pugh ( ; born September 29, 1980) is an American actor. He received critical acclaim for starring as Chuck Bartowski in the series '' Chuck'', and as the title character in '' Shazam!'' and its 2023 sequel, as a part of the DC Ex ...

) and Sarah Walker (

Yvonne Strahovski Yvonne Jaqueline Strzechowski (born 30 July 1982), known professionally as Yvonne Strahovski (), is an Australian actress. Primarily noted for her roles in dramatic television, she has received numerous awards and nominations, including two Pri ...

) get conned out of their wedding money, and there is only one man they can turn to for helpSarah's conman father, Jack Burton (

Gary Cole Gary Michael Cole (born September 20, 1956) is an American television, film and voice actor. Cole began his professional acting career on stage at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 1985. On television, he has had starring roles in the ...

). Meanwhile,

Morgan Grimes Morgan Guillermo Grimes is a major character on the television series ''Chuck''. He is portrayed by actor Joshua Gomez, and is the best friend of Chuck Bartowski. Morgan is the manager of the Burbank Buy More. He is also an employee of Chuck and ...

(

Joshua Gomez Joshua Eli Gomez (born November 20, 1975) is an American actor best known for his role as Morgan Grimes on ''Chuck''. Career He is the younger brother of actor Rick Gomez. Gomez appeared in a recurring role in the CBS series ''Without a Trace'' a ...

) and Alex McHugh (

Mekenna Melvin Mekenna Melvin (born January 23, 1985) is an American actress best known for playing Alex McHugh in ''Chuck'', Angela in '' Three Rivers'' and Stefanie Fife in ''Lie to Me''. She also co-created and starred as Amber Hannold in ''Amber Lake'', an ...

) pressure John Casey (

Adam Baldwin Adam Baldwin (born February 27, 1962) is an American actor. He starred in ''Full Metal Jacket'' (1987) as Animal Mother, as well as in the television series '' Firefly'' and its continuation film '' Serenity'' as Jayne Cobb. His roles include St ...

) to face Alex's mother, Kathleen (

Clare Carey Clare Carey (born June 11, 1967) is an American film and television actress best known for her roles as Kelly Fox in ''Coach'' (1989-1995) and Mary Bailey in ''Jericho'' (2006-2008), and her film role in '' Savannah Sunrise'' (2016). Backgrou ...

). "Chuck Versus the Wedding Planner" received positive reviews from critics. According to the

Nielsen ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

system, it drew 4.219 million viewers, with a 2.5/4 share among all households and 1.3/4 share among those aged 18–49.

Plot

In 1988 McCall,

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Monta ...

, Sarah Walker (Alexa Blair) assists her father Jack Burton (

) with a number of

confidence trick A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers h ...

s. Sarah begins saving her earnings in a

piggy bank Piggy bank (sometimes penny bank or money box) is the traditional name of a coin container normally used by children. The piggy bank is known to collectors as a "still bank" as opposed to the " mechanical banks" popular in the early 20th centur ...

to go on an adventure with her father. When Sarah's grandmother (Pamela Roylance) forces Jack to leave Sarah, Sarah sneaks into his car. Jack returns Sarah to her bed after she has fallen asleep, taking the piggy bank with him. In modern-day Burbank,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, Sarah (

) and

(

) pay their wedding planner, Daphne Peralta (

Lisa LoCicero Lisa LoCicero (born April 18, 1970) is an American actress, known for her role as Sonia Toledo in ABC soap opera ''One Life to Live'' and Olivia Falconeri in another ABC soap opera ''General Hospital''. Career Her first notable role was Jocelyn ...

), only to learn that Daphne has "conned" them. Advised by Jack to use their government resources, Chuck pretends to "flash" on Daphne, linking her to a known terrorist and causing General

Diane Beckman Brigadier General M. Diane Beckman, USAF is a fictional character in the NBC television series ''Chuck''. Beckman is a senior official of the National Security Agency, working within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. She holds h ...

(

Bonita Friedericy Bonita Anne Friedericy (born October 10, 1961) is an American actress, best known for her role as Diane Beckman in the NBC series ''Chuck''. Her husband is actor John Billingsley. Early life Friedericy was born in Charlottesville, Virginia, wa ...

) to redirect government resources to finding Daphne. After Daphne is captured, Sarah and Chuck reveal the truth and are suspended. However, when reading the plans for the Gerlich wedding, Chuck flashes on the names of Franz (Thom Williams), Bruno (Kevin Makely), and Paulie Klüg (George Ketsios), Hungarian scientists in the possession of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

ian nuclear research on a portable device called the "Zephyr", which one of the brothers is always carrying. All three brothers will be at their sister's

wedding reception A wedding reception is a party usually held after the completion of a marriage ceremony as hospitality for those who have attended the wedding, hence the name reception: the couple ''receive'' society, in the form of family and friends, for t ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

. Beckman, however, does not believe him and refuses to grant them government resources. Chuck and Sarah turn to Jack to help them continue Daphne's con and capture the Zephyr. They manage to lead the Klügs away from the reception and incapacitate them, only to find that none of them has the Zephyr. Jack realizes that the Klügs have been performing a

shell game The shell game (also known as thimblerig, three shells and a pea, the old army game) is often portrayed as a gambling game, but in reality, when a wager for money is made, it is almost always a confidence trick used to perpetrate fraud. In con ...

: the government has been pursuing them for the Zephyr when none of them ever had it; their father (Timothy V. Murphy) had it all along. Meanwhile, the bride's father realizes he is being conned and leads

(

) away at gunpoint. When Chuck and Sarah confront him, Klüg uses Morgan as a

human shield A human shield is a non-combatant (or a group of non-combatants) who either volunteers or is forced to shield a legitimate military target in order to deter the enemy from attacking it. The use of human shields as a resistance measure was popula ...

, but John Casey (

) takes aim at his head. However, Jack manages to talk Klüg down for the sake of the bride's happiness. Meanwhile, Morgan and Alex McHugh (

) lead Alex's mother Kathleen (

) to the

Buy More ''Chuck'' is an American action comedy/ spy-drama television series created by Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak. The series is about an "average computer-whiz-next-door" named Chuck Bartowski, played by Zachary Levi, who receives an encoded e-mail ...

so that Casey can reveal he is alive, but Casey asserts that Kathleen deserves better. However, Kathleen sees Casey and has an off-screen conversation with Alex about him. Kathleen find her daughter disillusioned about Casey being a government hero. A confused Kathleen follows Casey and confronts him at the reception, telling him to tell Alex the "truth", but Casey is urged by Chuck to continue with the con. Later, however, Kathleen witnesses Casey arrest Klüg, identifying himself as a

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

and an

NSA The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collec ...

agent. Despite Chuck and Sarah's efforts, Jack discovers that they are getting married. Chuck invites Jack to attend, but Jack refuses to make promises he cannot keep. Instead Jack leaves Sarah her old piggy bank, to which he has only added cash, never taken, more than covering the cost of the wedding.

Production

"Chuck Versus the Wedding Planner" was directed by Anton Cropper and written by Rafe Judkins and Lauren LeFranc. It originally aired in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

on April 18, 2011, on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

as the twenty-first episode of ''Chucks fourth season and the seventy-fifth episode overall. "Chuck Versus the Wedding Planner" began filming on March 7, 2011. Series co-creator Chris Fedak revealed at the

Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo The Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2) is a Chicago fan convention dedicated to comics, pop culture, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, toys, movies, and television. The inaugural event was held April 16–18, 2010 at the McCormi ...

(C2E2) that

would return as Sarah's father Jack Burton, and Zap2it confirmed in April 2011 that Cole would appear in "Chuck Versus the Wedding Planner", after last appearing in the second season episode "

Chuck Versus the DeLorean "Chuck Versus the DeLorean" is the tenth episode of ''Chuck's'' second season, and aired on December 8, 2008. Sarah's con artist father (Gary Cole) appears, and Chuck and Casey are ordered to use his latest scam to pursue a Saudi sheik with ter ...

also guest starred as Daphne Peralta, the eponymous wedding planner.

reprised her recurring role of Casey's daughter and Morgan's girlfriend, Alex McHugh, and

portrayed Alex's mother Kathleen. When Sarah travels to

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

to meet her father, aerial shots of the city are shown. The background that follows, however, has been described as "badly CGI'd".

Continuity

Jordan Bienstock of CNN noted several

continuity errors In fiction, continuity is a consistency of the characteristics of people, plot, objects, and places seen by the reader or viewer over some period of time. It is relevant to several media. Continuity is particularly a concern in the production of ...

in the episode. Among them is the fact that Jack is surprised that Sarah is a

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

agent, rather than running her own cons, when in fact it was made clear to him in his first appearance that she was "on the right side of the law". Also, Kathleen refers to Casey by his real name, "Alex", but the episode never acknowledges the fact that "Sarah Walker" is an alias. In contrast,

Alan Sepinwall Alan Sepinwall (born October 19, 1973) is an American television reviewer and writer. He spent 14 years as a columnist with ''The Star-Ledger'' in Newark until leaving the newspaper in 2010 to work for the entertainment news website HitFix. He ...

and Eric Goldman noted, in their respective reviews for

HitFix HitFix, or HitFix.com, was an entertainment news website that launched in December 2008 specializing in breaking entertainment news, insider information, and reviews and critiques of film, music, and television. In mid-2010 HitFix crossed the 1,00 ...

and IGN, allusions in "Chuck Versus the Wedding Planner" to past episodes. As in his first appearance, Jack refers to Chuck as "Schnook" and Casey as "Cop Face". Chuck also makes his "famous"

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adu ...

pepperoni Pepperoni is an American variety of spicy salami made from cured pork and beef seasoned with paprika or other chili pepper. Prior to cooking, pepperoni is characteristically soft, slightly smoky, and bright red. Thinly sliced pepperoni is one ...

for Sarah, alluding to "

Chuck Versus the Fake Name "Chuck Versus the Fake Name" is a third-season episode of the television series ''Chuck''. It was the eighth episode of the season, and the first to air after a two-week hiatus for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Chuck must juggle his new relationship ...

Reception

According to the

system, "Chuck Versus the Wedding Planner" drew 4.219 million viewers, with a 2.5/4 share among all households and 1.3/4 share among those aged 18–49. The episode received positive reviews from critics. Gary Cole's return was highly praised, as well as the scene in which Sarah imitates the face Chuck makes when the Intersect has a "flash". HitFix Senior Editor

wrote, "Cole's return was as much fun as I hoped it would be - in some ways, even better than his first appearance in season two's 'Chuck vs. the Delorean,' where I liked Sarah and Jack's interaction but thought the actual con job was a bit thin. 'Chuck vs. the Wedding Planner' had its own flaw in the section where Sarah and Chuck are illegally using government resources to catch the con woman and wind up getting more government 'help' than they bargained for... But once Jack turned up in Burbank to help his daughter and her schnook of a fiance be heroes and get back in the good graces of General Beckman, 'Wedding Planner' was really very strong, both as a comedy piece (loved Yvonne Strahovski's accent as she impersonated Daphne) and another story about Sarah's colorful but ultimately sad past." Ryan McGee of '' The A.V. Club'' gave the episode a B on an A+ to F scale, writing that the "episode didn’t really take advantage of Jack Burton's return to the show. Instead, it pushed him off to the sidelines to make room for a storyline that had no earthly business in this episode." Eric Goldman of IGN gave this episode a score of 8.5 out of 10, calling it "a nice break from the Volkoff drama". Melody Simpson of Buzz Focus wrote, "This story line has the potential to bring lots of drama but the way that it has been building up to this moment." Stephen Lackey of Mania called the episode "fun stuff just lacking in drama where drama was required." Brittany Frederick of Starpulse wrote that the episode reminded her "of all the reasons I fell in love with this show a year ago. It's fun, and funny without being campy, but more importantly, it's got heart. It's an episode that made me think, 'This is why people fight for this show season after season.' If it helps turn out more episodes like these, Gary Cole can drop by anytime he likes. I, for one, will be glad to see him."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chuck Versus the Wedding Planner Wedding Planner 2011 American television episodes Television episodes about weddings Television episodes written by Rafe Judkins